Deep divisions in American society and in the Senate over the Vietnam war and the extent of the nation's military commitments abroad marked the years that Senator John Stennis chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee (1969-1981). The committee confronted assaults on its jurisdiction, an erosion of public support for the military, and a weakening of U.S. military power relative to the Soviet Union's. The committee played an important role in reversing these trends by the end of the decade.

New Subcommittees

To blunt the movement in the Senate to cut defense spending, Chairman Stennis
expanded and strengthened the oversight of defense. He began by reorganizing
the subcommittees so the Armed Services Committee could focus on the details
of major weapons programs. Throughout the 1970s, senior panelists Howard W.
Cannon (D-NV) chaired the Tactical Air Power Subcommittee and Thomas J. McIntrye
(D-NH) chaired the Research and Development Subcommittee which had major responsibility
for critical parts of the Defense Authorization bill.

Senator Stennis retained the chairmanship of the Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee and focused its efforts on procurement. In 1971 and 1972, he conducted a series of indepth hearings on procurement as a prelude to the formation of a special Procurement Subcommittee. Senator Stennis also chaired a new Reprogramming of Funds Subcommittee that reviewed Department of Defense requests for expenditures of funds for purposes other than those the committee had authorized.

Enhanced Oversight

Chairman Stennis also enhanced the authorization process by broadening the
committee's access to information. In 1969, the chairman established a system
of regular, quarterly Pentagon reports on major weapons programs, cost overruns,
and performance tests. In 1973, the committee received for the first time the
Pentagons's five-year plan for procurement of major weapons systems. During
the 1970s, the Senate Armed Services Committee began to receive planning documents
on many defense programs and to review a broad array of Department of Defense
reports and studies.

Expanded Staff

Stennis strengthened the committee by expanding its staff. In 1969, he appointed
the committee's first staff director and enlarged the professional staff from
15 in 1969 to 30 by 1981. By building a staff of technical experts and weapons
specialists, Stennis greatly strengthened the committee's ability to conduct
critical, indepth reviews of annual defense requests.

Expansion of Defense Authorization

The Armed Services Committee continued to expand the items in the defense
budget
requiring authorization. New authorization requirements included procurement
of "other" weapons consisting largely of artillery, air defense, small
arms,
and crew fire-weapons (1969); the average annual active duty personnel strength
(1970); military training student loads (1972); civilian employment of the
Department
of Defense (1973); ammunition facilities (1975); and operations and maintenance
(1980).

Manpower and Personnel

In addition to weapons issues, manpower and personnel issues dominated the
Armed Services Committee's legislative agenda during the 1970s. The committee's
report of the Draft Lottery Act (1969) and the Draft Extension Act of (1971)
were part of an historic shift from reliance on the draft to creation of the
All-Volunteer Force. In 1973, Chairman Stennis appointed freshman Senator Samuel
(Sam) A. Nunn (D-GA) chairman of a Manpower and Personnel Subcommittee to discharge
new manpower authorization requirements and to grapple with the many issues
surrounding the All-Volunteer Force. Senator Nunn's subcommittee reported bills
that became the Reserve Call Up Act (1976), the Military Enlistment Bonus Act
(1977), the Military Benefits Act (1980), and the Defense Officer Personnel
Management Act (1980).

Arms Control and Treaties

Although the Armed Services Committee had no direct jurisdiction over arms
control issues, the committee increasingly asserted an interest in any treaty
or international agreement affecting the overall military strength of the nation.
In 1969, the committee held hearings on the military implications of the Treaty
on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Senator Jackson chaired the Strategic
Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) Subcommittee that monitored the talks leading to
the Treaty on the Limitation of the Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABM) and an interim
agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. In 1975, Senator Jackson's
subcommittee held hearings on Soviet compliance with the SALT I agreements.

In 1977, the Armed Services Committee held hearings on the nomination of Paul
C. Warnke who President James E. Carter nominated to be U.S. delegate to the
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the Soviet Union. In 1978, the committee
played a significant role in the debate over ratification of the Panama Canal
Treaty. During July through October of 1979, the committee held hearings on
the SALT II agreement and on December 20, 1979 issued a report stating that
the agreement as negotiated "is not in the national security interests of the
United States."

Jurisdictional Challenges

During the 1970s, the Armed Services Committee confronted an unprecedented
number of challenges to its jurisdiction from other committees that took action
on weapons cost overruns, military service club scandals, drug abuse in the
military, and the draft. In 1976, the committee lost some of its jurisdiction
over intelligence when the Senate established a Select Committee on Intelligence
with responsibility for oversight of the Central Intelligence Agency and national
strategic intelligence. The Armed Services Committee, however, retained jurisdiction
over tactical intelligence with military applications and was referred sequentially
the annual Intelligence Authorization bill.

Senate Reforms

Changes in the procedures, operations, and distribution of power in the Senate
during the 1970s impinged on the defense authorization process and chipped away
at the committee's traditions of a powerful chairman and bipartisanship. The
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 went into effect in
the 94th Congress (1975-76) and required that the Armed Services Committee provide
target amounts for the national defense budget category to the newly-established
Senate Budget Committee. Two changes in staffing further undermined committee
chairs' powers and Senators' reliance on the professional staffs of the standing
committees. Senate Resolution 60, adopted in 1975, authorized Senators to hire
personal staff to support their committee assignments. A 1977 amendment to the
Legislative Reorganization Act authorized the Republican minority to establish
the committee's first separately-funded minority staff.

Chairman Stennis successfully led the committee through this difficult era. He kept the panel focused on the key problems that grew out of the Vietnam war: the neglected state of the nation's weapons programs and the need to replace the draft with a viable manpower system. Despite powerful challenges from anti-Pentagon forces, the committee never lost a floor fight on a major weapons system that it reported.